A Forgotten Promise
by OkitaSoujiro
Summary: When Echizen Ryoma left for America, he made a promise with his senpai: to return in High School and win the Nationals with them. When the seniors reach the 2nd year, Echizen reappears. But something is wrong with their kouhai... Updated!
1. The Shocking News pt 1

**A Forgotten Promise**

**By FP298**

Chapter 1 : The Shocking News pt. 1

**A/N: Hey guys, this is NOT the next chapter. This is a rewrite of the first chapter because my friend thought I could do better with writing this. So here it is. I am working on the next chapter as you are reading this, but I would like to know whether you want me to continue this chapter or the one I previously published. Thank you! **  
Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.

After defeating Yukimura Seiichi of Rikkaidai Fuzoku, Echizen Ryoma returned to the United States, to further hone his tennis skills, and to fulfill his father's dream of achieving a Grand Slam. Before his departure, he made a promise. To return in Seishun High and to once again go to the Nationals with their old team. However, the new term has started, and 3 months later, the Prince has yet to make his appearance.

**Streets of Tokyo, 7:25 am, Thursday **(I'm going to assume classes start at 7:30...)

"I overslept, nya!" A redhead sped through the streets, trying his hardest to convince himself it wasn't his fault he didn't wake up in time. Though, it really was. "Eh?" Third year Kikumaru Eiji spotted a familiar friend. "OISHI!" He pounced and hugged his doubles partner.

"Eiji?!" Oishi Syuuichiroh gasped as he was attacked unexpectedly by his best friend.

"So you're late too, nya?" Eiji said quickly. "Yokatta! Sensei isn't going to kill me! Oishi?" He asked, as he had no reply from his friend. He noticed Oishi was turning blue from a lack of air. "OISHI!" He let go. "SPEAK TO ME, NYA!"

"-Choke-... -gasp-...-choke-.... Eiji..." He began, trying to regain his breath. "...school starts late today... you asked me to meet you here... remember?" When he finished, Oishi took a large gulp of air and fully replenished his air supply.

"Hountou ni, nya?" Eiji put a finger on his chin. "Ah! Now, why did I want to meet Oishi, nya?" Eiji stood rooted to his spot, wondering why on Earth he called Oishi here. "I can't remember, nya!"

Oishi sighed. That was so typical of him. "In any case... Tezuka and the others are already here, so maybe it will come back to you after some practice."

"...nya..." Eiji said absentmindedly, still thinking.

Shaking his head, Oishi grabbed Eiji's wrist and dragged him into the direction of the tennis courts. The sound of balls meeting rackets and bouncing off the floor met their ears. In Court A, Kaidoh and Momo were dueling it out, a match that began from an argument. In Court B, Kawamura and Inui were stretching and swinging, and in Court C, Fuji and Tezuka were playing a warm-up game.

Oishi looked around for their youngest member, before remembering he wasn't here anymore. 'One more year...' He reminded himself. 'Echizen will come back for sure... then we'll go to the Nationals again. For sure.'

Brring!

The bell signaled the end of a typical school day.

Typical, in the Seishun High dictionary meaning 'with disaster, dueling, and assigning laps.'

"Yes!" Leaping out of his seat, Momo hurriedly began shoving his papers and books into his bag, not noticing the stares and snickers that were passing around the classroom.

"Momoshiro." A deep voice appeared behind him.

"Hai, sensei?" Momo answered pleasantly, still packing, not even realizing he identified the person standing behind him. Suddenly, intelligence struck him. "GAH!" Momo instinctively took a step backwards, seeing his sensei breathing down his neck and successfully landed NOT so gracefully on his butt. The class laughed.

"Momoshiro, since you are SO excited about our newest project," The teacher continued sarcastically, as if he hadn't been interrupted by his outburst not two minutes ago, "You can show me another page of research by first bell tomorrow." He answered pleasantly.

"Demo, sensei-" The teacher shot him blank stare. Believe me, although it wasn't as scary as a normal glaring teacher, his blank stare did wonders.

"H-hai."

"NOW you may go, Momoshiro." He turned on his heel and returned to his desk, grading papers.

"Kono ya-"

"Did you say something, Momoshiro?"

"B-betsuni, sensei."

"I thought so." Another bout of sniggering and laughter rippled through the class.

Keeping his head carefully down so as to hide his red face, Momo left the class and proceeded on down to the tennis courts. As the pit-pat of his footsteps sounded in his ears, someone walking behind him fell into step with him, and followed him the rest of the way to the tennis courts.

"Oi, Mamushi." Momo called to the person right on his heels, without turning around. "Stop stalking me, will ya?"

"Fsuuuuuuh... baka, we're in the same club, on the same team. I thought you had enough brains for that, but I apparently... fsuuuuuh... was wrong."

"What was that?!" Momoshiro whipped around and came face to face with his eternal rival, fellow second year and regular. Meet Kaidoh Kaoru.

"You heard me, teme!"

"Why, you-!" Momo clenched his fist and brought it in the general whereabouts of Kaidoh's face.

"Momoshiro. Kaidoh. 20 laps." The cold, deep voice that was familiar to the two juniors startled them as it seemingly came from nowhere.

As usual, their captain, Tezuka, was on time. Momo silently cursed in his head. Momo and Kaidoh fighting + caught by Tezuka = Laps. Many, many laps.

"D-demo, Tezuka-buchou..." Momo weakly tried reasoning with him, although he knew it was hopeless.

"40 laps. Go."

"H-hai!" Without hesitation, hoping to get away from their stoic captain, they dashed off, leaving a puffy cloud ball behind.

"Look what you did now, baka Momoshiri!"

"Urusai!" Continuous arguing could still be heard during their running.

Impassively looking after them, Tezuka rubbed his temples slightly with a finger and opened the door to the locker room.

Five pairs of eyes flickered towards the door as the clack sound noted them of another's arrival in the room. Noticing it was only their captain, they quietly resumed their huddled conversation in the middle of the locker room.

"What, may I ask, are you all doing? We have practice."

"A-ah... gomen, Tezuka. We were discussing something of... importance."

"The district tournament is next week. You should be preparing. What is so vital that you require to skip practice?"

Oishi looked up, as if to say something, as his mouth opened slightly, but closed it and turned away. He quietly mumbled something under his breath.

"Pardon, I did not hear, Oishi."

"-zen."

"Par-"

"Echizen!" Oishi finally stated loudly. "Echizen! Something has happened to him! All of us can feel it! Especially after yesterday's news..." Oishi trailed off, and being the over-concerned mother hen that he was, he paced back and forth in the narrow space of the locker room, ranting as he went on.

"Tezuka, we are a little concerned." Fuji cut in, letting Oishi walk the length of the room. "Echizen would normally send us an email or call us once a month, yes? We have not received either in the past three months. Don't you think that's a little strange?"

"Fuji, he could just be very busy with another tournament."

"I knew you'd say that." Fuji reached into one of the cubbies, and let an article in a paper written completely in English land with a 'tump' on one of the benches.

"Read that." Fuji gestured at it, inviting Tezuka to pick it up.

Bending over, Tezuka lifted the newspaper from the bench with nimble fingers, and scanned through the English article easily, being the honor student that he was.

"Death of Former Tennis Pro... Echizen... Nanjiroh?" Tezuka put the newspaper down. "Yes, I am aware of the fact that Echizen's father is a former tennis pro. How is this relevant?"

"Read there." Fuji pressed his thumb down in the middle of the article.

Bending over, Tezuka read the words. "_-Nanjiroh's son, Ryoma Echizen, winner of four consecutive junior tennis tournaments has been brought in for questioning. However, nothing new was discovered pertaining to the case. His whereabouts are currently unknown. However, it is believed that he has returned to his home country, Japan, to recuperate from the loss of his parents._" A look of surprise passed briefly over his face before he straightened. "However-"

"Tezuka, did you not see yesterday's broadcast?"

_**FLASHBACK**_

_The cuckoo chimed for 7. After chirping seven times, the cuckoo withdrew into its quaint little home of wood and twigs. _

"_Ara, I guess I've been studying for too long." Fuji stood up, pushing his chair back before stretching. "I was planning to go for a walk..."_

"_Syuusuke!" The sweet voice of his elder sister sounded from downstairs. "Dinner!"_

"_Tadaima!" A deeper voice sounded right after his sister's calls faded out. _

"_Ah, Yuuta! Nee-san is so happy you are home! We cooked your favorite foods as well, today! What a coincidence!" Fuji heard his sister say cheerily. _

"_This was set up, wasn't it..." Yuuta grumbled from downstairs. Other voices sounded from below, indicating that someone had turned on the TV. _

_Fuji, with his eternally closed eyes, chuckled happily before leaving his room, shutting the door behind him with a click. He descended down the stairs, where he was greeted with a scowling Yuuta. _

"_Yuuta, good to see you. How is school?"_

"_Manipulative family..." Yuuta grumbled under his breath. _

"_Hahaha..." He pat his younger brother on the back. "Welcome home." _

_After exchanging short, friendly greetings with his family members, he moved towards the refrigerator with the intent of getting a drink to keep him awake for his brief mock test in school the following day. _

"_In other news," The reporter's voice carried through the busy bustling of the Fuji household, "Middle school tennis pro, Echizen Ryoma, has announced his retirement from the pro world due to unreported circumstances!" _

_A crash resounded throughout the house. The family members quickly halted their activities and rushed to the source of the crash. What they did not expect was a shell shocked Fuji, his hand gripping nothing, staring with open eyes at the TV. _

"_O-oi, Aniki, what's wrong-?" Yuuta stared at the screen before realizing the cause of his brother's reaction. _

_A familiar 15 year old appeared on the screen. "This is Kevin Smith, I'm hereby announcing... Ryoma's... retirement..." Kevin noticeably clenched his teeth and fists before continuing. "From the pro tennis circuit." A loud chattering of voices from the television indicated several questions being directed at the tennis player. "I will not intend to release any circumstances of his sudden decision. That is all. And if I find even a single reporter or article on the internet with questions or opinions regarding this... trust me on the fact that you will not be regarded kindly by the tennis association." _

_**END FLASHBACK**_

"Buchou!" A loud yell came from outside, interrupting the tense silence. Everyone recognized the voice belonged to Momo, Seigaku's number one rascal in an instant. The door flew open with a bang.

"Momoshiro... I believed I assigned you laps?" Tezuka stated calmly, adjusting his glasses.

Momo panted heavily, as sweat ran down in beads from the side of his face and dripped on the floor. "I already finished them."

"..." Tezuka looked outside where he still saw Kaidoh jogging around the courts. "Oh?"

"Okay, okay, fine." Momo scratched his head when he thought about all the laps he was going to be running from lying to his captain. "But... someone wants to talk to you. Says they know where... Echizen is." A heavy silence met Momo's words.

"Who?"

"His cousin. Meino Nanako-san. I know her since I used to pick Echizen up every day... but..."

"..." Tezuka briefly considered the request before nodding stiffly. "Minna, get back to practice. Whoever is standing around doing nothing whatsoever will be running a 100 laps when I return." Tucking his racket under his arm, he halted Momo on his way out as the regulars filed past him. "Momoshiro, where is... Meino-san?" Momo absentmindedly pointed towards the school gates.

"Arigat-" Tezuka stopped as he noticed the distant, sad look in Momo's eyes. He laid a heavy hand on his shoulder. "You need closure." He said as a statement, rather than a question.

Momo chewed on his bottom lip silently before nodding slightly.

"I will let you know. Now, go."

"A-arigatou, buchou..." Momo trailed off then ran in the direction of the tennis courts, no doubt to finish his laps. Tezuka's eyes followed him leave, before he went off to the direction that Momo had pointed out. He heard a sigh.

A young woman, about in her twenties' was leaning lightly against the school gate. She had long, dark blueish hair, let loose, floating gently in the breeze. She sighed again.

Tezuka cleared his throat to make his presence known. The woman looked up.

"You must be Meino-san. I am Tezuka, the captain. Yoroshiku."

"A-ah. Pleased to meet you. Please, just call me Nanako."

"Nanako-san, Momoshiro says... you know where... Echizen is?" Tezuka asked, getting right to the point.

She frowned slightly. "Momoshiro? Ryoma-san's friend? I.... did see him... but I don't recall telling him that I knew where Ryoma-san was..." However, her slight frown didn't add much to her already downcast face. "He must have overheard me talking to myself."

"You do know where Echizen is, though?"

"Hai. I do." She crossed her arms. "I'm sorry, but I need to ask you a request regarding my young cousin before I tell you and your teammates the full story.

"And that is...?"

"Please, take care of him."

"?" Tezuka's creased eyebrows spoke volumes.

"Ryoma-san... isn't... in the... best state right now."

"Recuperating? Fuji showed me the article."

Nanako looked up, surprised. "A-ah..."

"Did he sustain any physical injuries?"

"Even worse than that... it may also be impossible to undo the damage."

"Is the circumstances of his retirement from the pro circuit related to this?"

"Yes, indefinitely... what they didn't show in the article, or rather, what they didn't know was-"

POV Switch

Nanako muttered an incoherent word to their captain. Unknown to Tezuka, despite his orders, all were concerned about the whereabouts and condition of their cocky kouhai. Tezuka's eyes widened very noticeably.

"_... that's... again?"_ Was all the sound Tezuka was capable of producing at that moment.

"_Yes, unfortunately. The doctors say that if there was a source that could help him recover, they could be restored. If not... they could be gone forever, and..."_

"Ne, ne, Oishi, what are they talking about?" This was one of the rare occasions that Eiji forgot to add 'nya' to the end of his sentences.

"I... I don't know."

"_Should I inform my teammates?"_ Tezuka's voice continued.

"Fujiko?" Eiji pressed.

"_No... no, not yet. I have to tell him first. I know I can't ask this of you, but please, just keep silent on this for now-"_

"Saa, who knows?" Fuji answered quietly.

"Nya! Fujiko knows! Tell me! Tell me, NYA!" Eiji's last nya caught the attention of the conversing captain.

"Please excuse me for a moment, Nanako-san, I believe my teammates have returned to their old habits." Tezuka inclined his head slightly.

"Oh please, go ahead. I'll tell you the rest later. Please come by our old house later, though, Tezuka-kun."

"Arigatou." Bowing slightly, he spun on his heel and marched towards the hidden regulars who were... well, not so hidden anymore.

"Eiji!" Oishi tried to quieten the wailing cat. (How'd it get to wailing, anyway?)

"Minna..." Came a monotone, but full of deadly, deadly venom voice.

Everyone gulped (except Fuji and Inui) and slowwwwlyyyyy turned their heads around. There stood Tezuka, in his almighty aura complete with sinisterly glinting glasses.

"I believe I told you not to slack off? And I believe eavesdropping is very rude. Inui," The data player looked up at the mention of his name. "-please fetch two buckets for each regular and fill them to the brim. You are to all run 100 laps around the courts carrying these buckets in your hands under 1 hour and 40 minutes. If not, Inui," The data player's glasses glinted. "-will be testing his latest juices on you."

The regulars gaped. Their jaws dropped and hit the ground (don't think Fuji or Inui would react this way... and maybe Kaidoh and Oishi...), not only because of the ridiculous task that was set for them, or that their stoic captain muttered continuously for a minute.

"Nani, minna?"

"I-ie... n-nandemonai..."

"THEN GET TO IT!"

"H-HAI!" The regulars dashed off in fear, leaving behind a small puffy smoke ball.

Tezuka rubbed the bridge of his nose. _'Echizen... what have you gotten into this time?'_


	2. The Shocking News pt 2

**A Forgotten Promise**

**by FP298**

**Chapter 2 : The Shocking News pt. 2**

**A/n: Wow, things are really stirring up! I would like to thank all my readers and reviewers who do not hate me for posting a chapter so late! (You might still do...) I don't blame you though.  
THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I'VE EVER UPDATED IN ONE DAY! YES! *Pwease give me cyber cookies?*  
I hope you enjoy the second chapter of _A Forgotten Promise.  
Disclaimer: _**I do not own Prince of Tennis. They belong to Konomi Takeshi.

* * *

From the last chapter:

Tezuka rubbed the bridge of his nose._ 'Echizen... what have you gotten into this time?' _

_

* * *

_

_**Seishun High Tennis Courts, 4:45 PM**_

The regulars were tired... very, very tired. Not only had they managed to survive the Demon Buchou's (Tezuka) training, but Tezuka had decided to be unmerciful and made them drink the Inui juice anyway. So now they were sore, cranky, and on the verge of fainting after the horrible juice infected their tongues. Fuji, happily neutral with his scary taste buds, escaped with only extremely exhausted arms.

"Mou, Tezuka is really mean!" Kikumaru crossed his arms and pouted from his sitting position against the tennis court wall.

"..." A pop was heard, and the regulars looked towards the source of the sound, paling visibly. All this went unnoticed by the acrobatic player.

"Nya, I mean, I knew he would make us run the laps anyway, nya, but what's with the buckets and the juice, nya? I think he and Inui switched bodies or something..." An oppressive aura suddenly cut Eiji off from his rambling.

"I did not mean to interrupt." A deep, familiar voice stated calmly. "Would you like to repeat that, Kikumaru?"

"EEP!" Kikumaru looked up and saw a menacing glint in the captain's eyes, which made him look very... very... threatening. "Hahaha..." Kikumaru scratched his head sheepishly, looking towards his teammates for help. All backed off while shaking their heads. "I-iie..." He continued rubbing his head. "I was talking about another Tezuka... you know, the manga artist! Osamu Tezuka, nya!" (1)

**(1) **Osamu Tezuka is known as the father of manga. He was a very renowned manga artist, creating well known mangas such as Astro Boy.

"I highly doubt that he makes you run laps carrying buckets with a punishment of Inui juice."

"H-hah? Hahaha...iie, iie, I was talking about Konomi Takeshi! He drew us, and invented us, after all, nya!"

"I do not think Tezuka even sounds remotely close to Konomi OR Takeshi." Tezuka crossed his arms, his expression still unreadable from the light shining in his glasses.

"N-nya..............." Eiji shifted uncomfortably before...

"GOMEN, nya! GOMEN! JUST DON'T KILL ME WITH INUI JUICE, nya!" He sobbed dramatically, groveling at Tezuka's feet before grabbing Oishi's collar. "Oishi, tell okaa-chan for me that I'm giving everything to you! And you can bury Teddy-chan with me!"

"E-eiji..." Oishi was resisting the urge to sweat drop.

"Kikumaru."

"HAI, UNQUESTIONABLE RULER OF THE TENNIS CLUB TEZUKA-BUCHOU?!" Kikumaru covered his head with his arms while still groveling.

"I will excuse this for today. I have to return home. Minna, stand up."

Everyone complied by hoisting themselves off the ground and dusting themselves off. All straightened their jerseys, hoping to regain their dignity from that... horrific spectacle that Kikumaru had displayed.

"Since we are the only members of this club (2), I leave clean up duty to you. Oishi," The vice-captain looked up at the mention of his name, "You will lock the clubroom after everyone is finished, and return the keys to me tomorrow morning." He finished, tossing Oishi the keys, who caught them expertly.

**(2) **On their first day of Seishun High, the original High School team had challenged theirs as a show of skill. They had also made a bet on this. Whoever lost would resign from the tennis club. Tezuka's team, being the awesome team that they are, pwned the high schoolers. And thus, no one has joined the tennis club yet, even with another year. (Except Momo and Kaidoh from Middle School.)

"Kikumaru, Momoshiro, Kaidoh, you are going to pick up all the balls. Then you will clean the courts for tomorrow's practice. Go."

"H-hai!" They dashed off immediately.

"Fuji, Kawamura, Oishi, you will take down the nets, then join Kikumaru, Momoshiro, and Kaidoh for clean up." They nodded simultaneously and proceeded to their jobs.

"Inui, you will collect all the wrist and ankle weights from the regulars, then proceed to clean up duty while thinking of some new juice recipes. You will manage and supervise everyone else until they have finished. Do not threaten them with Inui Juice unless absolutely necessary. I will see you tomorrow for practice." Walking into the locker room, soft rustling was heard inside before Tezuka exited with his school and tennis bag. Adjusting his tennis bag on his shoulder, he pushed his glasses up with a tense finger and left the tennis courts. As soon as he was out of visible sight, Inui traced the footsteps Tezuka had taken and saw him going in the opposite direction of his house after leaving the school.

"Omoshiroi... we have to see what this is... ii data..." His glasses glinted happily. Returning to the courts, he waited until Tezuka was surely out of earshot and raised his voice, yelling: "Minna, just come here for a moment!"

They looked up from their duties. "Is Tezuka/Buchou gone?"

"Hai." He nodded for an affirmative. Sighs escaped their throats before all the regulars gathered around him.

"Nan desu ka, Inui?" Oishi asked curiously.

"Tezuka said he was going home, but I saw him go in the opposite direction of his house. I propose we follow him."

"Hah?! NO WAY, NYA! He would kill us if he found out!" Eiji shook his head vigorously.

"Do you not want to find out about Echizen?"

"I'm going." Momo declared quickly.

"I'll go." Oishi said determinedly.

"So will I." Fuji nodded his consent. "But by the time we finish, we will not know where Tezuka would have went."

"Which is why I have this." Inui whipped something out of his pocket.

"GPS?" Fuji tilted his head, examining the mechanism.

"Hai, GPS. Global Positioning System. With this, we can find out where he is going by tracking his phone."

The regulars had the same thoughts going through their heads: _'Stalker... GPS, of ALL things..?' _They gulped. _'I need to change my phone number...' _

Momoshiro peered closer at the device's screen before his eyes widened. His jaw sunk an inch lower. Curious as to what Momo had discovered, Inui accidentally brought the small machine upwards, knocking Momo's nose painfully in the process.

"ITE!" Momo rubbed his nose.

"Nani ga, Momo?" Inui peered at the screen, not having noticed. "So he is at a house. Do you know who's?"

"Echizen's..." Momo blinked several times before checking the address again. "There's no mistake. This is Echizen's house."

"Right, so we need to finish this quickly to catch any information."

"RIGHT!" Their fists pumped into the air. And thus they began cleaning much more furiously than ever before, for a chance to find out what happened to their kouhai.

No, not just a kouhai.

A friend.

* * *

_Meanwhile..._

_**Echizen Home, 4:55 PM**_

"I suspect that my teammates will arrive soon, knowing them. Please indulge any information you might have at this time as quickly as possible, Nanako-san." Tezuka was seated stiffly in the Echizen living room. All the furniture was covered in a layer of dust, due to the Echizen family's extended absence in Japan.

She nodded. "Sorry, I haven't had time to clean." She added quickly, noticing that Tezuka had glanced around. She folded her hands in her lap. "I've had to watch Ryoma-san all this time. His condition can change unexpectedly. It is absolutely..." Her hands trembled while her grip tightened on her skirt. "-despicable what they did to my cousin. And only a 15 year old at that." She stood up abruptly. "Before I continue, you might want to see what they did to him."

"A-ah." Tezuka followed suit, watching Nanako tremble with barely suppressed anger as she thought of the perpetrators that had harmed her younger relative.

She tread up the steps on light feet, Tezuka doing the same behind her. She stopped at the door closest to the steps, Tezuka almost crashing into her as a result of her sudden stop.

"This is his room." A plain wooden door stood slightly ajar in front of them. Raising her hand, Nanako curled it into a fist before tapping the wood with her knuckles. "Ryoma-san...?"

"Na...nako..." A weak voice responded from inside.

Tezuka inwardly flinched. The Echizen he knew would not display vulnerability so simply. One of his strengths from when he remembered him 2 years ago.

"Na...na...ko... it... hurts..." A weak cough followed.

"Ryoma-san?" Nanako flung the door open as quickly, yet as quietly as she could, and briskly walked over to her cousin's side.

Tezuka caught the door as it reached him before peering behind the door. When his eyes found his kouhai, his eyes impossibly expanded.

"A...ra..." A small smile appeared. "We... have... a guest... Nanako?"

And Tezuka froze in place, unable to move.

"And who... might... you... be?"

* * *

_**Seishun High Tennis Courts, 5:25 PM **_

"Yes! All done!" The regulars cheered, applauding their efforts as the wiped sweat off their foreheads. The courts were sparkling so much that you could literally see your reflection in it.

Fuji chuckled quietly. "I don't think we were supposed to use the bleach, Eiji, Momo."

"Ehhhhhhhhh?!"

"We didn't even need to scrub the courts this hard. All we had to do was make it usable..." Fuji once again chortled quietly to himself.

"Fuji/senpai..." Eiji and Momo, comically wearing housewife aprons complete with pink gloves and bandanas put their hands on their hips identically like mothers. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US THAT SOONER?!" They all but yelled in Fuji's face.

"We could've saved time! Mou, we could've went to Ochibi's house in that time and seen him-"

"You were too uptight." Fuji stated seriously, interrupting the both of them. "I doubt that then, you were even ready to face Echizen, should it have come to that." His cheerful personality returned. "Besides, Tezuka needs to talk to his cousin, right? We just gave them some extra time, is all."

"In any case..." Inui started, hoping to erase a chance of a tense silence, "We are finished. As soon as Momo and Kikumaru get out of that get-up..." He gestured to them as he spoke, "We can go. Tezuka is still in the Echizen household, so we can catch him on the way out."

"WHAT GET-UP?! THIS IS MY MOM'S!"

"Which makes you both look all the more ridiculous."

"Fssssssssssuuuuuuuuuuhh... baka Momoshiri."

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"C-chotto..."

"Here, Taka-san..." Everyone froze in place as Fuji said his trademark line. Before he handed the racket to Kawamura and had his 'BUUUUUUURNING!' mode disembowel them all.

To their chagrin and frustration, Fuji was smiling demurely next to air... while Kawamura was putting away the cleaning materials.

"Ii... data."

"Ahem..." Oishi cleared his throat, attracting the members' attention while they were still putting away the cleaning equipment. "Well, are we ready to go?" After several moments of rustling and locking doors, every member had changed into their school uniforms and were prepared to leave. "Let's go. Momo, lead the way."

"H-hai." Momoshiro brushed past his upperclassmen before stopping right between the posts of the school. Taking a deep breath and swallowing, he closed his eyes for a few short seconds. As soon as he opened his eyes, without a word, he marched to the left of the school gate, following the steps that Tezuka had taken.

_Ready or not... here we come!_

_

* * *

_

_**Echizen House, 5:35 PM**_

"Here we are." Momo uttered quietly to the rest of the regulars, looking up at the house that held so many memories of their underclassman. They had stopped in front of quite a large, traditional Japanese home, with a staircase nearby the house leading up to a temple positioned behind the home.

"Fssssssssuuuuuuuhhhh..." Kaidoh hissed as he recalled the tennis match he had with the young prodigy in the temple's tennis court before Ryoma had left for the US.

Oishi inspected the front gate before glancing around. "Eh? Is there a bell of some sort, or intercom around here?"

Fuji joined his peer in staring at the surroundings of the gate, hinges, posts, and all. "No..." He suddenly looked up. "But there's Tezuka."

"Eh? Doko?!"

Fuji inconspicuously pointed towards the balcony that noticeably stuck outwards from the quaint home. All the regulars looked upwards towards the direction that Fuji had pointed out, and sure enough, their ever stoic captain was present.

"Tez-" Oishi was about to call loudly before Fuji clapped a hand over his mouth. Surprised, Oishi turned his head sideways to glance at Fuji who shook his head in a silent no. Fuji nodded his head at Tezuka, as if urging Oishi to observe something closer to the bespectacled teen. Oishi's eyes widened.

Tezuka's clothes were splattered with patches of crimson red... which he could only assume was blood. And there was a large amount of it too. Oishi, being the nephew of a doctor and having visited his uncle regularly with Tezuka for his checkups knew immediately that amount of blood loss was near fatal. In addition to that, Tezuka's eyes were shaded by the glaring sun on his glasses, but it was not bright enough to mask the slight dullness in his normally sharp eyes. Was it as a result of near death, having that much blood? Oishi shook his head. It wasn't Tezuka's blood, he was sure of that. Then what? Trauma? Fear?

Oishi flailed his head forcefully. No. Tezuka, scared? He had known him since their freshman year and not a single thing had scared him from his personal experience... and Tezuka had always let his guard down around him. Not a single prank or practical joke... even after a horror movie, seemed to faze him. Then what in the world could-!

Oishi was interrupted as Momo drew breath to yell their captain's name, before...

"TEZUKA-KUN!" A high pitched shriek erupted from the house, causing all of the regulars to wince.

Tezuka flinched visibly, his eyes widening with terror.

"RYOMA-SAN! HE'S GOING INTO SHOCK! PLEASE - HELP ME!"

Tezuka, only seen as a blur, darted quickly into the room attached to the balcony, slamming the glass sliding door behind him.

As soon as processing the information from that fast exchange was done, the regulars snapped back to reality.

Fuji pounced towards the gate instantly, his eyes open. "We must assist!" Without hesitation, he hoisted himself over the gate before running towards the house.

"Fuji! Wait!" One by one, the regulars followed, climbing over the gate before discarding their things by the open door, as Fuji had done before bursting upstairs. When they spotted an open door, they promptly pushed it open. What met their sight was something that would never be erased from their memories.

An Echizen Ryoma with snow white hair, stained with the blood bleeding freshly from his wounds.

An Echizen Ryoma missing an arm and a leg, the disconnected body parts wrapped in white bandages, soaked with blood.

An Echizen Ryoma who they recognized, but at the same time not know.

And the last was burned into their minds forever. An Echizen Ryoma, covered in red, with a gentle smile, blood trickling out his mouth and down his chin, asking, "Ara... more visitors! And who might you be?" And this is how it all began.

* * *

**A/n: Phew. I started working on this right away after I posted the first chapter, because I couldn't lose this idea I had. You were lucky this time, readers! Ahaha! I hope you enjoyed this, but don't expect me to update soon! I will however, be starting more Fanfics and working on those. So stay tuned!**

~FallingPetals298  



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